Worlds Apart
by marcelb
Summary: A crossover with The Lost World. The band of explorers end up on Moya. How do they get back home?
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Worlds Apart  
**Notes:** About two years ago I wrote this story, which is a cross-over with _The Lost World_. Like _Farscape_, _The Lost World_ got canceled with the mother of all cliffhangers, but that very cliffhanger made it oh so tempting to link into the _Farscape_ universe. And I could work in the fact that Gigi Edgley (Chiana) played a guest part in one of the Lost World episodes! Anyway, this story is set a couple of monens after _The Peacekeeper Wars_ in the _Farscape_ universe and immediately following _Heart of the Storm_ in _The Lost World_ universe (try as they might, they were unable to pull of a 'Farscape' and get a mini to finish the story properly. A shame).  
**Disclaimer:** As always, these characters are not now, never have and never will be mine, nor do I make any money with putting this online.

* * *

"Anyone got any idea what that is?" John glanced around at his shipmates, pointing his finger in the direction of the forward portal that currently showed them a slowly moving yellow tornado-type funnel floating about in space. 

Chiana shook her head. "Never seen anything like it."

"Yotz, I knew I should have found other passage to return to Hyneria." Rygel glared at John. "You're a frelling trouble magnet!"

Aeryn glanced at her son as he lay snuggled up in the sling especially made for him before looking back up at the view screen, ignoring the Hynerian ruler for the moment. "I doubt this is a natural phenomenon. It's moving around too much for that."

John looked down at his son as well. "Well, whatever it is, we better avoid contact with it. Pilot, please plot a course around this thing."

"Very well, Commander."

John stroked his son's hair, the little bit of it that was present, and looked at his wife. "Whadda ya say we go and enjoy some quiet ti—"

"Commander! The phenomenon jumped erratically and is now directly inside of Moya!"

"...me after we've dealt with this dren?" John changed his suggestion mid-sentence and ended it in a sigh. "Alright, Pilot, is this thing hurting or damaging Moya in any way?"

"No, Commander. Sensors indicate a slight change in atmospheric conditions in the areas the phenomenon has visited."

"Areas? As in 'more than one' area?"

"Yes, Commander. It has visited four areas, two on Tier five, one on Tier six and one on Tier eight."

"Where's the phenomenon now, Pilot?"

"It appears to have vanished, Officer Sun." Pilot paused shortly. "One of the DRDs happened to be close to one of the areas. It seems we have visitors."

Aeryn looked at John for a moment and then turned to Rygel. "Can you hide little D'Argo?"

Rygel nodded. "Of course. I will protect him with my life."

"We'll comm you when all's safe." John grabbed hold of Wynona. "Pilot, point us to the areas the phenomenon has been in."

* * *

"Any idea where we are?" 

"No, but it looks like we're in some kind of structure."

"Oh, that's helpful, Roxton. I was wondering where the air and sun had gone to."

"Sorry to disappoint you, Marguerite, but that's really the best I can do at the moment." John Roxton carefully moved around the hallway he found himself and Marguerite in, his pistols at the ready, prepared for any possible danger. "So, what happened after we got separated?"

Marguerite, weaponless at the moment, stuck close to him. "I was captured by some Druids. They wanted to sacrifice me to avert a storm. Remember the body we found when we were trapped in that cave, the one with that mark on her shoulder? The same one as I have?"

Roxton nodded.

"That probably was me. The Druids led me to that same cave and were preparing to kill me." Marguerite looked at the man in front of her, relieved to be back in his presence. At least they were in this mess together, and that made her feel quite a bit safer.

"I was about to be killed as well before I ended up here with you. The last thing I saw was a yellow beam of light."

"So did I. I wonder why it got us, and why we're the only two to get here? I didn't see the Druids, nor the 17th-century Conquistadors who were chasing you."

"Neither did I, but I can't say I miss them." Roxton felt Marguerite staying close to him, nearly pressing her entire body length against him whenever he stopped to peek around a corner or one of those odd-looking protrusions all along the hallway. He turned around, pressing a finger against his lips. "Somebody's coming this way," he whispered.

"I'd feel a lot safer if you'd lend me one of your pistols," she whispered back.

Roxton gave one to her, knowing she could handle the weapon just fine.

Aeryn was walking confidently yet cautiously through the corridor. John and Chiana would be dealing with one of the other three locations first, but this location was the one the DRD had detected the visitors in.

A few motra's later she stopped. Her eyes had seen movement up ahead, just behind one of Moya's ribs. Aeryn pondered her next course of action. She couldn't get closer without sacrificing defensive positions. From this position she couldn't do much to them, either. Well, John usually had some luck in talking people out of hiding, perhaps, she could do the same.

* * *

"V, wake up!" 

Finn prodded Veronica's shoulder repeatedly. Finally the blonde Amazon moaned softly and opened her eyes, one hand still clutching the object that had either saved them or killed them.

"Where are we?" Veronica slowly sat up.

Finn switched to whispering. "I have no idea, but someone's coming this way."

Veronica tilted her head a little and after a brief pause nodded and got up, instantly coming to full alertness. "Whoever it is, I'm sure we can handle it." She hung the Trion around her neck and retrieved one of the knives from her boot.

* * *

"Marguerite, you're good at languages. Any idea what she's saying?" Roxton never let his eyes stray away from the woman. Or rather, the location he deemed the woman to be. He couldn't see her at all, not from this distance. 

The dark-haired woman beside him shook her head. "No, I don't think I ever heard a language like that. Does it matter?"

"Well, she could be telling us she's unarmed, that it's safe for us to come out."

"Really, Roxton, when has that ever happened?"

"What do you suggest?"

Marguerite looked in the direction of the unknown woman. "Excuse me, but we don't understand your language."

In response they heard the woman talk, though nothing seemed understandable. Nothing except for a very English word.

"Roxton! She said your name! I clearly heard her say 'John'."

* * *

Aeryn muttered, "Frell, more people without translator microbes." She tapped her comms. "I'm close to the intruders and asked them to show themselves. John, they don't seem to understand a word I'm saying. What do you want me to do?"

* * *

Veronica glanced at Finn. "What language is that?" 

Finn shrugged a little. "Don't know, don't care. I'll let my crossbow do the talking."

"I s'pose we can rule out inviting them to dinner, then." John pressed himself against the corridor wall, making sure to stay out of the line of fire while he mulled over this new information. "How many are on your side?"

"Two, from what I can tell."

John nodded. "Pip tells me there are two here as well."

* * *

"That's English!" Marguerite whispered excitedly. 

Roxton nodded. "Yes, American, I think. And it seems whoever is talking English has no problem understanding that woman."

"And they found two more people, apparently." Marguerite looked in the direction of the woman again. "Whoever you are, we do understand English!"

* * *

"Hey, Aer, did I just hear someone yelling they understand English?" 

"Yes."

There was just a short pause before Aeryn continued again, this time in English and directed at the newcomers. "Who are you and why are you here?"

Roxton and Marguerite looked at each other upon realizing that the still unseen woman was now speaking English.

Roxton turned back to look in her direction. "I'm Lord John Roxton and the lady with me is called Marguerite. Who are you?"

* * *

"Roxton! Marguerite! Finn and I are here as well! Are you alright?" 

John sighed, realizing this was going nowhere, fast. "How 'bout we stop hiding from each other and meet in one area? Saves everyone's voice. Aer, if you take a detour to Tier eight and see if more of their friends arrived, Pip and I will go to Tier six. Afterwards we'll meetcha'll in Center Chamber."

* * *

Aeryn smiled at the irony of the current situation. Usually it was John who'd be accused of being something he wasn't. "No, I'm not Human. I'm Sebacean. We just look alike." 

Marguerite looked at the woman. "But the man we heard talking, he is Human, right?"

Aeryn nodded. "Yes, he's the one who taught me your language."

Roxton cleared his throat. "Excuse me, but how did you know my name?"

Aeryn looked at him, confused. "I didn't know your name before you told me yourself."

Marguerite and Roxton glanced at each other before Roxton addressed Aeryn again. "We heard you say 'John' before I mentioned our names."

Aeryn smiled. "I was talking to Crichton. His name is 'John' as well."

Marguerite looked at Roxton. "I think I'll stick to calling you Roxton."

* * *

"Pakim?" 

Chiana looked blankly at Veronica.

John shook his head. "No, this is Chiana." He noticed the puzzled look on Veronica's face slowly fade and turn into a smile.

"Sorry, she looks like someone I met before. She had gold-colored skin then."

John nodded as if understanding but his features clearly showed his confusion as well. "So, you're Human, right?" Though it beat him how a Human would have seen anyone with gold-colored skin.

"Isn't that obvious from the way we look?" Finn looked John up and down, finding him very attractive. Not to mention the tight leather pants that accentuated his... assets. Veronica's elbow to her ribs yanked her out of her lascivious staring.

John shook his head again in answer to Finn's question. "Not 'round here, it isn't."

"And where is here, exactly?" Veronica looked expectantly at John.

"Somewhere. I think it's better if I'd explain with all of you in one place."

Veronica nodded. "Probably a good idea."

At the same moment Finn made a discovery. "Challenger!"

Up ahead the middle-aged professor lay on the floor, seemingly unconscious. Before Veronica and Finn could reach him, however, he slowly propped himself up.

"Professor, are you alright?" Veronica slipped her arm behind his neck to support his attempt in getting up off the floor.

"Yes, I'm quite alright." He brushed off his clothes and then looked back at Finn and Veronica. "What happened after we got separated?" He then took in his surroundings. "And where in blazes are we?"

Crichton and Chiana had arrived at that moment. Crichton gestured towards Veronica. "As I told Jane here before, I think it's best if I explain that when we meet up with the others."

Challenger only now noticed the two new companions. "Others?" His gaze shifted to the gray-skinned girl before returning to the Human male. "What others?"

"It's alright, Challenger," Finn attempted to reassure him. "Roxton and Marguerite are here somewhere as well. We'll be meeting them a little later."

Challenger slowly nodded, again looking toward the gray-skinned girl.

Chiana cocked her head and turned towards Crichton. "I'm guessing he's confusing me with that other person these two tralks talked about."

"Pip, no name-calling."

Challenger looked once again at the Human. "You can understand what she's saying?"

Crichton nodded. "Yeah, and she can understand English just fine. We'd better get to our meeting place. I'm sure Aeryn and your friends will have found out whether there's someone at the fourth location." He extended his hand. "By the way, I'm John. John Crichton."

* * *

"This is quite an extraordinary place, Mr. Crichton." Challenger had been looking at and touching various walls on his way to what was likely their meeting place. The meeting place itself was even more interesting. 

Veronica looked around briefly, assessing possible defensive positions just in case something bad should happen, before turning back to Crichton. "How long will it take for the others to arrive here?"

"Not long, I guess. They needed to go two Tiers lower than we were when we found the professor here. I think I can hear them now."

A moment later, Crichton observed the other group enter and noted how the two groups of newcomers seemed very relieved to see each other alive and well, as if none had expected to see each other again or even to have survived. Then he observed 'Jane's' reaction to someone apparently special to her.

"Ned!" Veronica ran towards him and threw herself in his arms. "You're back."

Malone hugged her and smiled. "So are you."

* * *

"Yep, outer space, the big void." As he said it, he realized the group didn't seem particularly shocked to hear there were aliens, or that Humans could leave Earth, even if it was only for short trips to the moon and back. They weren't even shocked to find out they were actually in space. 

He studied them again, and assessed that except for Jane and Blondie, the others seemed to be dressed in early nineteen-hundreds fashion, including their weaponry. As for Jane, he couldn't tell what era she came from, but Blondie was wearing leather stuff and they were pretty short. The vibe was more around his era.

"Sorry for breaking my own rules here," Crichton began, referring to his earlier comment that the group explaining things couldn't ask questions, "but you're from the early nineteen-hundreds, right?"

Challenger nodded. "Yes, nineteen-hundred twenty-three. But Finn is from two-thousand twenty-three."

Crichton nodded. "Right, that explains why she's not really shocked to hear we can leave Earth's atmosphere, but you should be."

Challenger shook his head. "Oh, no, Mr. Crichton, I assure you we are not shocked to hear that, nor to learn there are other species in outer space. I believe that once I tell our story you'll understand why. But please, continue."

Chiana spoke up first. "Are you sure you want to tell them about how you got here, old man? Bad things happen when you tell people about... you know what." At the last moment Chiana realized she couldn't say 'wormhole', since that was an English term.

Marguerite looked at the gray-skinned girl suspiciously. "We've agreed to tell everything, so he'd better not be holding anything back."

Crichton and Chiana both gave her a shocked look. Chiana was the first to get some words out. "You-you can understand what I'm saying?"

Marguerite smiled and nodded. "Most of it. It's very similar to an ancient Earth language, though there are some differences. Has anyone told you, you look like someone we met before?"

Crichton chuckled. "Yeah, I hope you'll tell me about this gold-skinned Pip at some point." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, it all started six years, that was nineteen ninety-nine, by the way, when my friend and I were testing a theory that would allow us to travel a lot farther than to the moon and back. When I started the experiment, I got hit by a magnetic wave and shot through the resulting wormhole."

Challenger furrowed his brow. "A wormhole?"

Crichton nodded. "Yeah, a blue tunnel that connects distant parts of the galaxy, allowing you to traverse that distance in a few seconds." He decided to leave out the time-traveling part for now. "Anyway, I ended up in a battle, before I got dragged into Moya." He raised his hand to forestall the next question. "That's the name of this ship. She's a Leviathan, a living ship."

Crichton proceeded to give a summary of the nearly six cycles he'd been here, only carefully editing out any references to other wormholes, time-traveling and his son, though he was sure those subjects would need to be addressed sooner or later.

* * *

Professor Challenger had been telling the story of him and his companions to the crew of Moya. Crichton had to admit that based on their adventures, they had no reason to be shocked to learn about traveling in space or the existence of aliens. He was also very impressed with the professor, who had apparently come up with various items that weren't officially invented at least half a century later. 

The last part of their story made Crichton sigh. "Damn, it's always about time, isn't it?"

Before any of the newcomers had time to respond to Crichton's comment, the comms interrupted. "Could someone please come and take care of this infant! When I volunteered to take care of him, I had expected everything would be safe by now!" During Rygel's tirade, little D'Argo's cries were clearly audible.

John quirked an eyebrow at Aeryn, silently asking if she felt it was safe for their son to be brought out. A small nod of her head was her only answer. "Alright, Sparky. Bring little D to Center Chamber."

Crichton saw the explorers look towards the dark-haired woman.

"Don't look at me! I didn't understand that language any better than you did."

Crichton cleared his throat. "Yeah, that raises another issue, communication. As you've already realized by now, I can understand everyone here. The secret is translator microbes. They colonize your brain and provide you with a direct translation of any spoken language, with just a few exceptions."

"Microbes? How could they possibly work correctly? Different languages have different sentence structures, not to mention words with multiple meanings, depending on context." Marguerite shook her head. "Unless they translate with a delay, they couldn't work."

Crichton sighed. "Well, they work just fine and I've never noticed any delay in translation with regard to spoken word. Now, the thing is, should you take microbes or not? If you have to remain here for a while, Aeryn and I'd go bonkers if you didn't take them, but on the other hand, once you do return to your own time and maybe even find your way home to the civilized world, you'd be able to understand any language, which is a big risk. I doubt you'd have to worry about doctors or scientists finding out, since in your era that's virtually impossible."

Challenger nodded slowly. "Tell me, Mr. Crichton, can you still discern the actual language being spoken underneath the translation."

Crichton nodded. "Yeah, but the longer you rely on the translation, the less you notice. I guess if I'd focus I'd be better able to do so."

Aeryn interrupted. "There are some techniques that allow you to control the microbes. You may be able to disable them when you return."

Challenger nodded again. "In that case, how do I obtain these translator microbes?" He conferred with his friends. "As Mr. Crichton already pointed out, we'd be at a distinct disadvantage if we don't accept these translator microbes. We have no idea how long we will be trapped here."

Crichton noticed that after a little discussion, all reluctantly agreed to take the translator microbes. "Pilot, have the DRDs prepare six batches of translator microbes."

"Already done, Commander. They'll be there shortly."

"Thanks, Pilot." Crichton looked towards the door as he heard Rygel's thronesled approach. "There's Sparky!"

Aeryn immediately went to him to take her son. "I see he quieted again."

Rygel huffed. "I wish I had known sooner that movement would silence him. You might have mentioned it!" He turned to the newcomers. "So, what have we here? They don't look like Peacekeepers, but are you sure they aren't?"

Crichton chuckled as he stood close to Aeryn and looked at his son. "Yeah, Fluffy, we're sure. They're not even Sebacean."

Rygel took a closer look at the explorers. "Oh, frell, don't tell me. More fahrbot Humans."

* * *

"John?" 

"Yeah?"

"What do you think about this situation?"

John sighed. "I don't know, babe. I think they're pretty much stuck here, maybe even forever, unless they can undo whatever caused them to end up here. You heard their story. They're not even sure themselves on how this is gonna work out, if they can even fix it." He paused. "What's your impression so far?"

Aeryn shrugged. "I think the woman with the brown clothes and blonde hair seemed to be the better warrior of the group."

John chuckled. "I bet she thought the same about you. But the others seem to be able to fend for themselves quite well."

Aeryn nodded. "Yes, and they seem to care a great deal for each other." She paused. "Just like all of us aboard Moya."

"Mm-hmm, but doesn't that make them even more dangerous? I mean, just look at all the stunts we've pulled for each other."

"True, but I sense that as long as we don't harm them, they won't harm us. No, I don't think they pose a real threat at the moment."

John sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right."

* * *

"John?" 

"What is it, Marguerite?"

Marguerite saw Roxton raise his head from the pillow and glance in the direction of the door of his new accommodations. She palmed the door control and watched it shift into the wall to allow her entrance.

She stepped inside and closed the door behind her. "Can I...?" Marguerite halted, unsure if this was really such a good idea. But who else should she go to? "Is it alright with you if I sleep here? I felt rather alone in my room."

Roxton nodded. "Sure, I'll see if I can get comfortable somewhere..."

Marguerite approached the bed and shook her head. "No, you can stay here as well. The bed is large enough and I really need someone to hold me. That Druid business really got to me." She stepped into the bed, letting the sheet she had taken from her room fall on the floor.

Roxton moved to give her more room. "Are you alright, Marguerite?"

Marguerite settled on the bed, facing Roxton, suddenly realizing the two of them were now lying just inches apart, both barely clothed. Still, she trusted him. He wouldn't expect anything. A smile played on her lips as the realization dawned on her that she wouldn't necessarily say 'no' to him. "Yes, I am now." Marguerite noticed he was not touching her at all. "I still need someone to hold me, help me fall asleep."

Now he did embrace her, though he still tried to avoid full body contact. Marguerite realized there was only one way to let him know that it would be alright. She scooted closer to him, embraced him and pressed herself tightly against him. It took only a few moments before Roxton tightened his embrace.

* * *

Chiana stood in the hallway, observing Veronica alternately standing and pacing in front of the quarters occupied by the, in her opinion, attractive Malone. Chiana ruefully shook her head. 

When she'd seen Malone for the first time, she'd felt an instant attraction towards him, though she was certain it was just physical. It wasn't love, not the same feeling she had with D'Argo. But he would've been a nice frell. Just to help her get over losing her D'Argo.

But now, observing Veronica's obvious longing for him, Chiana was sure it would be better for her health to stay away from this new male. That just wasn't fair! The dark-haired male, the other John, was also unavailable. That only left the older one and she wasn't so sure if that would be a good idea.

Chiana wondered why Veronica didn't just go in there, like she'd seen the dark-haired woman do earlier. It was obvious Veronica wasn't going to do so anytime soon, so maybe she needed to talk to someone.

Chiana moved closer to Veronica, who was apparently so enthralled by the man inside that she didn't even notice her arrival.

"You gonna stand there all night?" Chiana smiled at the startled Veronica.

"I... I just..." Veronica sighed.

"You love him, don'tcha?"

Veronica's only response was to nod her head.

"Does he love you?"

Veronica sighed again. "I don't know."

Chiana looked her in the eyes, tilting her head a little sideways. "Don'tcha?"

Veronica shrugged. "Not for certain."

Chiana tilted her head the other way. "Does he know you love him?"

"I... I... We never really said it to each other."

Chiana gave a small laugh. "Well, maybe not in words, but I've seen the way you two behave toward each other, and I've just witnessed you have great feelings for him." She paused, then said shrewdly, "Not knowing whether he loves you or not, that's not the reason you don't seem to want to follow through with your feelings."

Veronica sighed again. "Ned and I, we're from different parts of the world. What if they find a way back to London and Ned wants to go? Sure, I'd like to see it, but I don't think I'd be able to stay there. What if he wants to stay in London or go back to New York?"

Chiana thought about it and remembered something from their adventures as they had told them. "When you disappeared, wasn't he the one to keep on looking for you? Wasn't that the reason you hadn't seen him for a long time? Because you came back and he was still looking for you?"

Veronica shook her head. "No, he went away and made his own story."

"That's what I told the others. I never stopped looking for you. I want to be with you."

Both women turned to see Malone standing near the door, palming the control to open it.

Veronica stepped closer to Ned. "You do?"

Ned nodded.

Neither said another word, just stood there, gazing at each other. Chiana decided to leave well-enough alone. They'd work it out now, she was sure of it. She turned away and headed for Center Chamber to grab a drink, something she had intended to do before witnessing the two women longing to be with the men they loved. At least the dark-haired one had gone in on her own.

* * *

"Exactly, Professor, it must have been caused by the same phenomenon that brought you all here." 

"Whoa, hold it, Pilot." Crichton jumped off the console he was sitting on. "We're quite a ways away from where we were when these guys showed up. Are you sure it's the same phenomenon?"

"No, Commander, I am not sure. However, the energy signatures are identical to the ones Moya detected as a result of the phenomenon that brought the Professor and his friends here."

Circhton sighed. "Well, put like that, I have to admit it's only a logical conclusion." He turned towards Challenger and the others. "You wanna go explore this area?"

Challenger nodded. "Yes. It's likely we will learn more about our current situation by checking this area. Perhaps we will be able to detect a similarity that will allow us to determine a way to reverse this latest change."

Rygel flew in on his thronesled. "I hope you will allow me to return to Hyneria first, before you all jump into this new adventure."

Crichton looked at Challenger. "It'd only take an hour or two longer before we can go explore the area."

Challenger glanced at his companions. "Well, I suppose we can postpone the exploration for that long."

* * *

"Are you sure, Chiana?" Rygel steered his thronesled to be at eyelevel with the Nebari. "You are most welcome on Hyneria, fully provided for." 

Chiana smiled at him sadly. "Yeah, I'm sure. I know D'Argo wanted this, and if he was still here, I'm sure we both would've come with you. But I'd just feel lonely and bored, with only you as my friend and nothing to do."

Rygel chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure you could get yourself in trouble within a solar day." He grew serious again. "But I understand. This is not the way you go through life. To be honest, I wondered if you would have been able to enjoy your life if you and D'Argo would have settled on Hyneria."

"I would have. With him, I would have." She sniffed softly. "I'm gonna miss ya." She paused and a smile appeared on her lips. "Frog-face."

Rygel chuckled again. "I'll miss you, too, you snurching little tralk." He turned his thronesled to glance at his friends one last time and then moved toward the Hynerian Royal vessel without saying another word.

* * *

"You're good." Aeryn smiled down at Veronica who was lying on the sparring mat. "Much better than Crichton was when he arrived here and only marginally less than he is now." 

Veronica used Aeryn's hand to get up. "Well, I guess I should take that as a compliment."

Ned, standing near one of the walls, slowly shook his head before turning to the companion beside him. "I don't think I'm looking forward to your wife's combat training."

Crichton grinned. "Can't say I blame ya."

Aeryn and Veronica had made their way to the two men and Aeryn smiled at Crichton. "Blame him for what?"

"Not looking forward to your combat training."

Ned turned his gaze from Veronica to Aeryn. "You were pretty tough on Veronica."

Aeryn looked at Veronica, then at Ned and gave a little shrug. "When you're in a real combat, you can't expect your opponents to go easy on you, so why should we during training sessions?"

Crichton nodded. "She's right, y'know. Besides, she was holding back now. I think having a baby softened her up."

That earned him a smack from Aeryn. "This was just to gauge her abilities. I held back on your first training, too."

Crichton grinned. "Yeah, I still remember that training session. I ended up with three bruises, a broken bone, and unconscious."

Aeryn grinned back. "Yes, but you were particularly dense and deficient back then."

Ned chuckled. "Well, I can tell you right now that I'm not as good as Veronica, but I can hold my own."

Crichton looked at him and shook his head. "You shouldn't have said that, man." He jerked his head in the direction of his wife. "She's gonna take a lot of pleasure in showing you just how much you lack."

Veronica smiled. "I think I'll stay around for a little while longer. This could be fun."

Ned felt less confident by the second. He eyed Aeryn as she made her way to sparring mat. Maybe Crichton had been right in his assessment of his wife's plan for him. He felt Veronica give him a small push in the direction of the sparring area and slowly made his way to a waiting Aeryn. "This is going to hurt, isn't it?"

Aeryn just grinned at him and assumed a fighting stance. "Attack me."

Ned looked to the side where Veronica and Crichton were standing. Before he could turn back Aeryn's fist hit him on his chest and he staggered back from the force of the punch.

Aeryn tilted her head a little. "Are you going to look to the others during a real fight, too?"

"No."

"Right, attack me."

This time Ned didn't hesitate and took a swing at her, only finding empty space in his path. A second later he was flung over Aeryn and he landed on the mat, face down. Before he had time to turn around Aeryn was sitting on top of him.

"Right, you're on the ground, face down and your enemy is sitting on your back. What was your first mistake?"

Ned sighed as he heard Veronica and Crichton laugh. "I don't know. Gave you too much time to avoid the punch?"

"Yes, but that's not the first mistake."

"Attack you without thinking things through?"

"That, too, but still not your first mistake."

Ned sighed again. "Telling you I could hold my own in a fight?"

Aeryn turned her head towards Crichton. "At least he's smarter than you were during your first training session." She got off of Ned and helped him up. Once he was up she assumed the stance again. "Alright, as you said, you gave me too much time to defend against your attack. What you..."

Pilot's voice interrupted the session. "Everyone, we've arrived at our destination. I think you will be interested in what we found."

* * *

"Pilot, can you explain that?" Crichton looked through the forward portal at the strangest sight he'd ever seen. 

"No, Commander. This should not be possible, but Moya's sensor readings confirm what you see."

"My God. How could this have happened?" Challenger stepped closer to the portal.

Roxton and Marguerite entered Command at that moment, preceded by a DRD.

Marguerite looked towards Challenger, not really noticing what was outside. "What is it, Challenger? Oh, my. Is that... Is that the Plateau?"

Roxton went to the portal to stand next to Challenger. "It does have the same shape."

Crichton looked at the explorers. "So, you all agree this is the place you came from?"

Challenger looked at Crichton. "Well, it certainly looks like it. Just how it ended up here and why it is nothing more than a flat section floating in space, I don't know."

"Moya's sensor indicate there is an atmosphere. The partition is approximately a metra thick. She has detected several different life-forms."

"We couldn't make this home, could we?" Marguerite moved to stand next to Roxton. "We would have to abandon all hope of leaving the Plateau and return to London."

Veronica shook her head. "Not necessarily." She grabbed the Trion. "This is what caused us to end up here. It must be the key to return us back to Earth. I can only use this at the tree house."

Crichton cleared his throat. "You shouldn't forget this might not be the right version of the Plateau. As you pointed out in your stories, it was divided into several times and realities. It is possible this is not the one from the time you'd need to get back. Pilot did say that Moya has detected at least another location where the phenomenon that brought you here has been. There may be more."

Challenger nodded. "Yes, you may be right. If we use this in the wrong time, we may end up in the past or in the future. We should explore this Plateau and determine if it's the right one. We may be in for a long journey."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes:** I've been threatened, uh, I mean kindly asked to post an update. So this is the second part of this cross-over. Unfortunately I only completed three parts; the fourth had been fighting me so hard, that I put it down. But fear not, I've recently started to work on this story again, so it's not totally abandoned yet. Lastly, I just re-read this part and noticed a plot hole big enough for Moya to fly through. I left it as-is (well, duh, half the chapter would have to go otherwise) so it's still in sync with the originally posted story.

* * *

"Aeryn, baby, you know you can't come. It's too damn hot down there." John Crichton kissed his wife's forehead. "Besides, someone has to keep an eye on little D here."

Aeryn looked in the direction of her son's 'crib'. She agreed with John that there should be someone watching over this new man in her life, but she would feel much better if it could be someone else, so she could go with her husband and keep him safe.

On the other hand, who should she ask to take care of her son? Aeryn wasn't so sure she should trust Noranti with that task and Chiana, as she had once said, was still a narl herself. Aeryn sighed and turned back to her husband. She hated this whole frelling thing. "I know you're right. I just want to be there and protect you."

John sighed too. "Yeah, I know you wanna, but it's not possible this time. Besides, I'm not gonna be alone down there."

Aeryn smiled wryly. "That's what I'm afraid of."

John chuckled. "I'd almost think you're jealous and afraid Blondie is gonna lure me into her lair."

Aeryn's chuckle held less humor. "I suppose you also realize she's taken an interest in you?"

John nodded. "Yeah, well it's hard to miss her not-so-covert glances."

Aeryn smiled widely. "She's not so much looking at you but more at a certain part of your anatomy." Her hand moved down to the part in question and the smile turned into a confident leer. "Though I _can_ understand why it attracts her so much."

* * *

"Are you ready, Marguerite?" Roxton looked in her direction. 

She was just finishing up putting on her boots. "Almost."

She looked to one side where Roxton's pistol lay and then to the other, where one of those weird-looking pistols lay. Considering things for a while she turned back to the other side and holstered Roxton's pistol.

Roxton nodded approvingly, having chosen his own pistol above those provided by the crew of this ship earlier as well. "Wise choice. At least we know that they work."

Marguerite nodded. "Yes, but we don't have much ammunition. We really should make more ammunition or start using those." She pointed at the pulse pistol and then looked at Roxton. "Or Finn can save us with her crossbow." The biting tone often present in her voice became more pronounced at that statement. As quickly as it came it went again. "You do know why Finn wanted to come, don't you?"

Roxton nodded. "Yes, but I think she should be careful. His wife might kill her if she ever tries anything. Not that Crichton seems to be interested in Finn at all. Still, we may need to warn her. Or maybe we should ask Veronica and Ned to join us. I feel safer with them than with Finn."

Marguerite shook her head and smiled. "I don't think they'd be very useful. Or haven't you noticed they spend all their time together lately? They'd be too distracted if you took them both."

"Well, we spend all our time together, so perhaps we're not such a good choice, either."

Marguerite grinned. "I don't see why. I just ignore you as always. It has always kept me safe." She quickly moved out of their quarters and in the direction they'd been given earlier.

Roxton, stunned for the moment, watched her walked away a few paces before he followed her, shaking his head in bemusement.

* * *

John Crichton warily circled the now-dead creature. "You should've been dead for millions of years," he muttered, mostly to himself. He turned to Roxton. "If you hadn't told me about living dinosaurs earlier, I'd have guessed we're 'bout sixty-five million years from when you should be. Any ideas on when we are?" 

Roxton shook his head. "No, and I'm not sure how we can find out. We can either go to the tree-house or just explore some places we've been in the last three years and see if there's any indication we've been there."

Challenger nodded. "I agree and though the tree-house seems like the better option, I suggest we go and find out if one of our latest adventures has taken place."

Marguerite looked at Roxton. "The cave we were trapped in?"

Challenger nodded. "Excellent suggestion, Marguerite."

Roxton looked around trying to get his bearing and pointed to the north. "It's that way and not too far from here."

Crichton palmed his comms. "Aer? We've landed and going to check out some place these people have been. I'm going to deactivate my comms device, but will report back within the arn."

"Alright, John. But promise me you'll comm me when you run into an enemy."

Crichton eyed the dead Raptor. "Well, we've already killed one Scarran forefather. Luckily, these aren't as smart or thick-skinned as them. I'll let you know if I run into deeper dren." He turned off his comms immediately and turned to the explorers. "Now that we're on your turf: lead the way."

Roxton gave a short nod and headed in the direction of the cave.

* * *

"You're already acting like your father, you know that, little one?" 

Aeryn sat with her son in Command on a console, holding him close.

"Already looking at all the pretty flashing lights, wanting to explore and examine every little thing you can get your tiny hands on. But you know what? I like that. I want you to be smart and curious like your father. But I also want you to be strong and brave like... Like your namesake."

"Don't forget loyal and a great pilot."

Aeryn was slightly startled by the unexpected and undetected closeness of Chiana.

Chiana moved her finger over the baby's cheek. "Just like his mother."

Aeryn snorted. "Great pilot, yes. But loyal?"

Chiana nodded. "Yeah, loyal. Perhaps even more than D'Argo."

Aeryn looked at her. "Must I remind you I left John? Twice? Neither occasion was a show of loyalty. And I couldn't even prevent a fellow warrior and friend from being killed."

Chiana looked her in the eyes. "That wasn't your fault. D'Argo's death, I mean. You were taking care of the baby and the Eidelons. I never blamed you for that. None of you. Those frelling Scarrans, yeah. And I was a bit angry with all of you for leaving him down there, but I know we couldn't save him. There was no time. He died a warrior, the way he was supposed to die."

Aeryn looked back at Chiana, biting her lip. "Perhaps. But that still leaves me leaving John behind."

Chiana nodded. "The second time, yeah, that was your doing. But not the first time. You needed to take care of Talyn." Chiana moved her arm around Aeryn. "And I do understand why you left the second time. I'm used to emotions and even I have trouble dealing with D'Argo's death. You had to deal with your love's death and you couldn't do that when he's still around."

Aeryn nodded, but didn't look particularly convinced. "Yes, but I left him alone. Literally alone when Moya vanished through the wormhole. I should have stayed with him."

Chiana sighed. "And do what, Aeryn? As I recall, you were quite the Peacekeeper soldier, no emotions, nothing. You think that would have helped Crichton? Or you?"

Aeryn dipped her head to look at her son and then looked back up at Chiana. "I wasn't there to protect him on Arnessk."

Chiana's features changed slightly. "Protect him from what?"

Aeryn sighed. "I know something happened down there, Chi. I don't know what it is, but something happened to John. Because I wasn't there."

Chiana snorted. "We were there, and we couldn't protect him because we were imprisoned. I doubt you could've done anything for him."

"Chi, what happened on Arnessk?"

Chiana looked uncomfortably around Command and eventually hopped off the console and started in the direction of the door. "It's not my story to tell. Ask Crichton about it."

* * *

"It's really beautiful up here." 

Veronica craned her head up and looked at Ned standing beside her. She noticed he was not actually looking at the universe outside but at her and started to smile. "Enjoying the view from up there?"

Ned smiled and sat down beside her. "I always enjoy watching you." He looked out the transparent wall. "But that is quite a view, too."

Veronica nodded. "Yeah. I could watch this for hours."

They watched in silence as the stars and planets and nebulas moved from one direction to the other as Moya slowly circled around. Eventually, the Plateau moved into view.

"You think they're gonna be okay down there?"

Veronica turned her head. "I'm sure they're alright. Challenger, Roxton and Marguerite have been living on the Plateau for three years. They know their way around, where the dangers are. I'm a little worried about Crichton, though."

Ned shook his head. "I don't think it's necessary. He's been through a lot, had to fight a lot. He can handle whatever they run into."

Veronica shook her head. "That's not what I'm worried about."

Ned chuckled. "Ah, you mean Finn. Again, I don't think you'll need to worry. He's only interested in Aeryn and his son. I'm sure Finn knows the danger of pursuing him. She's been training with Aeryn as well."

* * *

"Damn," Roxton cursed. 

Marguerite moved toward him. "What?" Then she noticed the door. "Oh. Still closed. We're at a time before we were trapped here, then."

"So, what event happened before that?" Finn asked.

Crichton cleared his throat. "What? We're gonna run around this Plateau and check each and every event in chronological order? Fun as that may be, I suggest we take a slightly quicker approach."

Challenger turned around. "Oh? And what would you suggest then?"

"Simple. First we check whether you actually arrived here. There must be some checkable event close to the time when you arrived. Then we either know we're here before you arrived or after. If it's after we take an event roughly halfway through your time on the plateau and, depending on that outcome we know whether to check the first or last half of your stay here. We'll check an event halfway through that time frame and we'll keep dividing until we find out when we are."

Challenger nodded slowly. "Yes, that seems like a more efficient approach."

Crichton smiled. "Great. So what checkable event happened after your arrival here?"

Roxton, Marguerite and Challenger looked at each other, thinking about when they arrived here. It was Marguerite who came up with the answer. "The cave!"

Crichton looked at her. "Lady, we're already in a cave."

Marguerite shook her head. "No, no, not this one. The one Assai showed us that might have led us off of this Plateau." She looked at Roxton and Challenger. "Remember? It caved in before we had a chance to get off the Plateau!"

Challenger looked dubiously. "Yes, but as I recall, it was in the territory of the ape-men. And I don't remember where it was exactly. Do you?"

Both Marguerite and Roxton shook their heads.

"Maybe V knows." Finn looked at the three expectantly. "She knows this Plateau better than any of us. If she went with you..."

Crichton dug up his comms. "I think it's time to call the 'missus'. Ask her to interrupt the two love birds."

* * *

"Shh, little one." Aeryn walked around Command, gently rocking her crying son. "It's alright." 

"What's wrong?" Veronica entered Command, followed by Ned.

Aeryn turned around at the two. "My son was taking an interest in one of the DRDs. Unfortunately, it had built up a slight static charge and when he tried to touch it, he received a little shock. He's fine, just a bit startled." She turned to look at her son again. "Aren't you, little one?"

D'Argo was already quieting down, his attention this time directed at the two new people.

"Apparently we've distracted him now," Veronica said.

Aeryn smiled. "Like his father, he has the attention span of a Faltox." Aeryn noticed the incomprehension on the two human faces. "A creature with a very short span of attention," she clarified.

"He seems mostly interested in your hair, Veronica," Ned observed.

Aeryn grinned. "Again, something he must have inherited from his father. Do you know that I'm the only non-blonde woman John has ever been attracted to? It seems my son is going to be attracted to blondes as well."

Veronica glanced briefly towards Ned.

Aeryn caught the worried exchange between Veronica and Ned. "Oh, I'm not worried he's going to... run off with your blonde friend. He knows he's a dead man if he does."

At that moment the comms came on. "Hey Aer, could you go and interrupt the two love birds?"

Aeryn shook her head and winked at two humans beside her. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea, John. We wouldn't like to be interrupted either, would we?"

"Yeah, well, we need some information that apparently only Jane can provide us. Once that's done, they're free to go back to their current task."

"And what information do you need, John?"

"Aer, just go fetch her, alright? You'll hear... who's that I hear chuckling? Doesn't sound like Pip or Granny."

"That would be one half of the love birds."

John sighed. "Then why were we having this conversation?"

Aeryn grinned. "I just didn't like your suggestion of interrupting them."

Marguerite's voice was next over the comms. "Veronica, do you remember the cave Assai showed us when had just arrived? The ones that could have led us off of this Plateau?"

Veronica nodded. "Yes. It's in ape-men territory."

"Yes, we know. It's just that we don't quite know where it was."

* * *

"Uh, guys? What's that?" Crichton pointed out the forward portal of the transport pod, having opted to use it to speed up their travel to the other side of the Plateau. 

Challenger walked to the front of the pod. "That would be a British Navy dirigible, launched in nineteen-fifteen and commanded by Captain Askwith."

Crichton smiled. "That gives us an approximate date, right?"

"Oh, I'm afraid not, Crichton. Though we came in contact with the dirigible's captain, there's no telling if this is the same occurrence."

John turned to the professor. "Not the same occurrence?"

Challenger shook his head. "It's a... A ghost ship, stuck in a time loop. Though we've only seen it once in the past three years, there's no telling if this is that time. And as we don't have any indication as to how often it appears, we cannot even make a guess. Besides, it could be before we arrived here or after. I would suggest to keep out of sight though."

Crichton nodded and turned back to the forward portal, muttering under his breath. "And here I thought I've seen weird things."

"Wait! Look! Someone's falling." Marguerite pointed in the direction of the airship.

Crichton shook his head. "No, there are two people falling. And this airship... it's heading towards those cliffs."

"Well, that certainly is familiar."

Roxton had barely uttered those words when both the falling persons as well as the dirigible vanished.

"That's not what happened." Marguerite looked to Challenger and Roxton. "We crashed the airship in the mountain cliffs. We know Askwith landed safely and Malone was killed."

Challenger looked contemplatively out the forward portal. "Either this was not our version and the time loop reset itself, or we changed to a different time."

"You mean to tell me these time barriers are present here?"

Challenger shrugged. "It is a possibility, Marguerite. The events were exactly what we've been through before, but since we couldn't see who was falling, we cannot assume it was indeed Malone falling. The two options I mentioned both have merit."

Crichton nodded. "I agree. We better check if we can detect different times on this rock. Moya can perform those checks." Crichton activated his comms. "Pilot, could you ask Moya to check for anything that might indicate difference in times?" He waited a couple of microts. "Pilot?" More silence greeted him as he activated the onboard sensors. "Pilot?! Aeryn?! Anyone?!" Not getting any response he turned back to the explorers. "I think option two seems most likely. I can't contact our friends on Moya, and the sensors no longer detect her, either. We may have moved into another time zone."

* * *

"What do you mean 'they vanished'?" Aeryn walked briskly onto Command, addressing Pilot as she went. 

"Just that, Officer Sun. The transport pod simply vanished. Moya does detect another vessel, but she's sure there was no weapons fire."

Aeryn frowned. "Another vessel, Pilot? What type of vessel?"

"It appears to be a crude hovering ship, utilizing gas lighter than the atmosphere to provide lift. It's outfitted with rotating propellers to provide thrust."

During Pilot's description, the clamshell had changed to display the airship.

Aeryn looked at it and shook her head. "I can't believe humans dared flying in this type of ship." She turned around when she heard a gasp.

"Askwith!" Veronica grasped Ned's hand and briefly looked at him before turning back to face Aeryn's questioning gaze. "It's a ghost ship commanded by Captain Askwith. It's in a time loop, continuously reliving its last mission." Veronica looked once again at Ned, still clutching his hand tightly. "Askwith killed Ned."

Aeryn turned back to the clamshell viewer, nodding her head. "Right, Pilot, can you detect anything... Frell!"

They just witnessed the crash of the dirigible into the mountain cliffs.

"It'll be back. The others are on the ghost ship and will return here later. That is, if this is the time we lived this nightmare."

Aeryn nodded. "Right. Not our concern. We need to find the transport pod. Pilot, is there anything to indicate what might have happened to it?"

"Moya has already scanned for any possible debris, if that's what you mean. No debris has been found and she's now scanning the area the transport pod was last detected."

Aeryn closed her eyes briefly, reigning in her anger. She knew there was no reason to get angry with Pilot or Moya for something for which they were not responsible, but whenever John was in danger she too-often let her emotions rule. "Alright, Pilot. Keep searching. There must be some indication of what happened."

Aeryn turned around and left Command at a brisk pace, followed by the two humans. Aeryn headed straight for the docking bay. Before she could climb aboard her Prowler, Veronica stopped her by putting her hand on the other woman's arm.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Down there, to find my husband." Aeryn yanked her arm out of Veronica's grasp.

"What about your son?"

Aeryn halted with one foot on the ladder of the Prowler, biting her lip, at Ned's question. She palmed her comms. "Chi, I want you to keep an eye on D'Argo for me. I'll be going down to find John and the others."

"What? Aeryn, are you tinked?! You can't leave! What if you disappear as well? D'Argo would have to miss both his parents. Just... just stay there. I'll go down if you want, but you can't leave."

Aeryn rolled her eyes. "Chi, I'm not going to disappear. I'm just going to look for my husband."

Chi's snort came over the comms. "Crichton wasn't planning on disappearing, either. I'll be there in a microt. Just stay put, okay?"

Aeryn set her foot back on the ground, realizing that Chiana did have a point. And if something was wrong with the others, she couldn't go out of her Prowler for very long, or she'd succumb to Heat Delirium. "Fine, I'll stay here. Just hurry up."

Aeryn palmed her comms again. "Pilot, could you transfer Crichton's last known location to this transport pod and prepare it for flight?"

"Already done, Officer Sun."

"Thank you, Pilot."

Mere microts later Chiana skidded to a halt in front of Aeryn. "Good, you stayed."

Aeryn rolled her eyes again. "Of course I stayed. I said I would, didn't I?"

Chiana glanced towards Veronica and Ned before turning back to her. "Yeah, well, when Crichton's in trouble, you have a tendency to go after him."

Aeryn shrugged and smiled a bit. "I probably would, if you hadn't reminded me it would orphan my son if I also disappear."

"So, do we have their last known location?"

Aeryn nodded. "Yes, I've asked Pilot to transfer the coordinates to the transport pod's navigation system."

"I'll go with you." Both Aeryn and Chiana shook their heads, but Veronica persisted. "I know the way down there, you don't."

"Yeah, but I'm not planning on gettin' outta the transport pod."

"But what if something happens and you have to? What if the others are injured and you can't land close to them?"

Chiana intended to argue but Aeryn stopped her. "She's got a point, Chiana."

Chiana looked at Veronica and then to Ned. "Fine, but I'm not taking both of you."

"Officer Sun, Chiana? Moya has detected a temporal distortion in the area where Commander Crichton vanished."

"Temporal distortion?" Aeryn furrowed her brow. "So they may have ended up in another time?"

"Moya and I are uncertain. It appears to be an isolated patch of approximately one metra in diameter. So far, no other temporal distortions have been detected."

"It could be the same time barriers we encountered before." Veronica furrowed her brow. "Though we never investigated them, so I'm not sure if they were indeed barriers or enclosed areas."

Aeryn nodded. "Right. But you returned, didn't you?"

"Yes, but only the first few times. The last time, Finn and I were the only ones left in our original time. The others had vanished and didn't return." Veronica paused. "Is this area moving?"

"Pilot?"

"No, this patch hasn't moved since Moya detected it."

"The barriers we encountered did move. They also appeared and disappeared at random. This temporal distortion is not the same phenomenon."

"Could it be related to this thing with Askwith?" Ned looked at the women. "It was stuck in a time loop, so there could be a distortion in time."

Aeryn nodded. "Yes, that could be it. Regardless, if they are stuck in a different time, we may have no other choice than to wait until they return. There's no sense in getting two more people lost. John has dealt with time traveling before. He knows how to get back and not to disturb anything. We'll give them an arn, and then decide on what to do."

* * *

"Where's that barrier?" Crichton looked from his sensors back to the forward portal. "We've been circling this area for nearly an arn and still we haven't run into it. It must be 'round here somewhere." He turned to the professor. "You're sure they didn't move?" 

Challenger nodded. "They moved within a short area. But they did have a tendency to appear and disappear, seemingly at random. It'll reappear."

"Are you sure, or just guessin'?"

Challenger shrugged. "One can never be sure, but based on previous encounters with these barriers, I'm fairly confident it'll return."

Crichton shook his head. "It'd better be soon. In half an arn I'll have to land, otherwise we won't have enough fuel to get back to Moya and the others." He paused, suddenly remembering something. "Didn't you say this blimp was stuck in a time loop? Could we be experiencing some side-effect because of it?"

Challenger took a moment to think about it. "It is a possibility, especially considering the Plateau has been split into an undetermined amount of versions, each representing a different time. That may have interfered with the time continuum when we came closer to the airship."

"Well, isn't that just peachy? Any idea on how long it took before this whole episode with the blimp ended?"

Challenger shook his head. "Not exactly. For us it seemed to have taken nearly a day, but it may have been shorter here on the Plateau."

Crichton nodded. "Well, in that case, I suggest we go back to our first landing spot. We'll try to find the barrier later." He steered the transport pod back in the direction of the landing space they used earlier.

"That may not be wise. We'd be on the other side of the barrier when it returns and I'm not sure if that would allow us to get back to our time or not."

John turned the pod around at the professor's objection. "You might be right. Is it safe to land at the landing spot near the other caves? That's close by, isn't it?"

Challenger nodded. "It is close. I'm not sure if it'll influence our current predicament. We may drift into another barrier before we get there, or we may encounter one when we try to get back here."

John agreed. "Right, but I still need to find a landing place for the station wagon or in half an arn it'll find one for us."

"I'd prefer a landing spot as close to this place as possible." Challenger looked out the front portal. "Could you land in that clearing?" He pointed in a direction where at perhaps less than half an hour walking distance was a clearing in the jungle.

John followed the direction of his finger and nodded. "Yeah, no problem." He steered the pod in the direction of the clearing. Just as he was about to start his descent, the comms came back on.

"John! Are you alright?"

"Aer? How long were we gone?" John looked towards the professor. "Let's hope her answer is 'an arn' or we're in the wrong time."

"Just over an arn."

"Well, whaddaya know? We got back right on time." John immediately steered the pod up into space. "We'll return to Moya right away. For one, we're running low on fuel and two, I think we can pretty much rule out of this being the right time period."

Challenger nodded. "I agree. It really doesn't matter if this was the instance we were on board the airship or not. It's definitely not the same time as when we left."

* * *

Aeryn slid back on the bed, pressing her back against her husband's chest, and sighed out of contentment. "I'm glad you're back." 

John nuzzled her hair. "Yeah, me, too. I didn't intend to scare you, babe. I didn't expect to be yanked out of time. Again."

Aeryn patted his arm. "I know, John." She paused and bit her lip. "I almost came down, right after you disappeared. I didn't even think about our son. Even when Ned reminded me of him, I simply asked Chiana to take care of him."

John tightened his embrace. "Babe, you're not a bad mother. You're still trying to get used to having a child."

Aeryn smiled. He really did understand what she was thinking and feeling. "Perhaps." She paused again and slightly changed the direction of their conversation. "Do you know why I wanted to come down so badly? Why I want to protect you at all times?" Aeryn felt John shake his head before he verbally let her know he didn't know. "Because I know something happened on Arnessk a cycle ago and I wasn't there to help you." She could feel John stiffen.

"Wha... Why do you think something happened on Arnessk?"

Aeryn shrugged. "I wasn't really sure, at first. I gradually came to believe something had happened there. Today I confronted Chiana about it, and she said it wasn't her story to tell. And just now you stiffened when I mentioned it." Aeryn turned around to look at him. "John, what happened on Arnessk?"

John turned to lie on his back and sighed. "Babe, it's not important. I've dealt with it. Just let it go."

Aeryn furrowed her brow slightly. Why did he still try to keep it from her? "No, John, I won't let this go. Something happened and it influenced you greatly. I need to know. I just..." She was interrupted by the cries of her son. She slid out of bed. "I'll go feed our son, but don't think I won't continue this conversation when I get back."

Aeryn pulled on some shorts and walked towards her son's crib. "Shh, little one. Mommy's here."

She picked him up to carry him to the chair she had retrieved for that purpose. She smiled fondly when his attention went to her breasts before she could even take a step. _Another trait you inherited from your father_. John interrupted her mid-stride.

"Aer, could you do it here?"

When Aeryn turned towards John, she could see he'd sat up and made room so she could sit and lean against him while feeding their son. She nodded and changed direction back to the bed. Once comfortably seated, she moved her son so he could finally nurse. The whole process of nursing still overwhelmed her, and she gazed intently at her son as he greedily sucked nutrition from her body.

John's hand came up to stroke little D'Argo's head while he kissed her softly on the cheek. "I could watch this for arns."

Aeryn chuckled softly. "Why do I think you'd rather be in your son's place?" She could feel his smile as his chin rested on her shoulder.

"Well, yeah, but I figure I get my chance later."

Aeryn kept her gaze firmly directed at her son, but her mind was trying to come up with a way to get John to open up to her about Arnessk. She couldn't think of anything, though the sight of her son nurturing might have influenced her thought processes.

"Grayza happened."

Aeryn was slightly startled with the sudden revelation, especially after such a long pause since either one had said a thing, but pleased he at least would tell her. "Grayza? What about her?"

"She... Well, I... We... Have you ever heard of Heppel Oil?"

"Heppel Oil?" Aeryn was mildly confused with the sudden change of subject. "I don't see what that has to do with Arnessk. The Heppel species can't really survive anywhere but on their own planet."

"Do you know what Heppel Oil does?"

"I've heard rumors that it has applications in interrogation as it disrupts thought processes." She changed the position of her son so he could nurse from the other breast.

John snorted. "Yeah, interrogation." He went quiet for a long time. "Grayza has a Heppel gland implanted. She used it to... interrogate me."

Aeryn heard his tone of voice and realized interrogation was probably not descriptive of what had actually happened. "John, tell me what Heppel Oil does exactly."

There was an ominous pause. "It gets you so horny you'll do anything to frell the applier of the stuff."

This time Aeryn stiffened. Grayza had raped him. Aeryn directed her attention to her son to make sure she hadn't inadvertently jostled him or perhaps scared him. She forced herself to relax again and the view of her son helped greatly in accomplishing that.

"I tried to fight it. I tried to fight her. Eventually I got away, only to almost get myself killed by Grandma, though she claims she didn't try to kill me at all. The second time I got away by using Lakka."

Again Aeryn stiffened, for two reasons. One, he had apparently fallen into Grayza's clutches twice, and second, he'd used Lakka even then. He'd also used Lakka to forget about her, and Aeryn had no love for the bug or its juices. Her attention was once again drawn to her son, who seemed to have sensed the increased tension this time, and started to make unhappy sounds.

"It's alright, Aer. I've dealt with it. I'm not using Lakka anymore, you know that."

Aeryn nodded, as she attempted to get her son to nurse some more. Seeing that he didn't seem interested in nutrition anymore, she got up and tried to get him to release any gas build-up.

"John, it's not the Lakka that disturbs me, though I admit I'm not happy to be reminded of it. It's the fact that... that... tralk got to you twice and... did things to you." When Aeryn saw John's facial expression change she knew there was more to it. "John?"

"I went back myself for the second time. D'Argo and Sikozu had a plan to escape and they needed someone to... distract Grayza."

Aeryn closed her eyes momentarily and turned back to little D'Argo's crib and placed him back in it.

"Aer, they didn't have much of an option. The only ones not imprisoned were me, Sputnik, Big D and Granny. Rygel was still on Elack and couldn't be much of assistance, and Granny seemed high as a kite."

A quick check showed Aeryn her son's 'diapers' were still clean, so she tucked him in and went back to her husband. She almost smiled when his next words died on his lips and his gaze traveled from her face to her still-exposed breasts. She contemplated the wisdom of stretching her arms above her head. Though her body told her it would appreciate that movement, she was afraid it might lead to other things, away from their conversation.

In the end, her body's needs won out. She'd already accomplished her primary goal, so if it would lead to something more physical, it wouldn't be that bad. Overlay the bitter memories with newer, sweeter ones. Actually, her body informed her it would appreciate that as well. She smiled and walked back to the bed, dropping her shorts near it. "We'll talk about it later."

John nodded and made room for his wife. "Much later," he agreed.


	3. Chapter 3

"Having fun yet, Marguerite?" Roxton glanced in her direction, unable to hide the worry he felt for her in his eyes. Marguerite stubbornly kept quiet, though her eyes told him she was sorry, as well as relieved, that he had at least returned to the land of the conscious. While appreciative of the sentiment, he couldn't resist pointing out their current predicament was her fault. "As I recall it, you said, and I quote 'What could be worse than Raptors, T-Rexes, ape-men or lizard men? Let's go and explore this strange world and have some fun.' End quote."

"So I was wrong. But I don't seem to remember having to twist your arm to come with me on this trip."

Roxton turned his head away. "I admit I wanted to explore as well. But we should've asked Chiana what we could do and what to avoid." He looked back at her. "So, what happened after they knocked me unconscious?"

"They brought us here, chained us up and left us alone."

"They didn't say anything? Tell us what we did wrong, what they plan on doing with us?"

Marguerite shook her head. "No, they haven't said a word at any moment."

Roxton glanced down at himself. "Damn, they grabbed my communication pin." He looked at her. "And yours too. We might have warned the others, assuming we could have activated one of them."

Marguerite smiled coyly at him. "I still have mine. I managed to pin it inside my blouse while they were busy with you. You'll have to activate it though."

Roxton looked at Marguerite's blouse which appeared to be opened up further than normal. He still couldn't see the communication pin. "Where exactly, did you put it then?"

"I attached it to my camisole."

The matter-of-fact tone and the widening smile told Roxton that she was apparently looking forward to his attempt at activating the device. "A little more specific, perhaps?" Now he was looking forward to it as well.

"Left breast, just above my nipple." She smiled again. "Specific enough?"

Roxton just nodded and moved closer to her.

Marguerite started to giggle when her body was pressed up against his. "I should have pinned it a lot lower. That might have been easier for you."

Roxton shook his head and grinned. "I think this will be more fun." He tried to get as low as possible and dipped his head in the direction of her breasts. He smiled when he noticed Marguerite tried to get up as high as possible, causing his nose to end up between her breasts at the right height. Turning his head in the right direction he moved her blouse out of the way to finally come in contact with the device.

Roxton pressed his nose against the communication pin, eliciting a small moaning gasp from Marguerite, as it pressed firmly against her breast. "Uh, hello? Can anyone hear me?"

"Lord Roxton? Is something wrong with you and Miss Krux?"

"Uh, yes, Pilot. We have been captured and are locked up someplace."

"Hold on, I'll alert the others."

Roxton looked up at Marguerite who was looking intently at him, her eyes dark. Before either could say anything, another voice erupted from the pin.

"Congratulations! You got captured even faster than I ever was!"

Crichton was interrupted by his wife. "John, stop that. This is serious."

Crichton cleared his throat. "Alright, you two. What did you do and who got angry?"

Before Roxton could get a word out, Marguerite was already talking. "We weren't doing anything. These... people just came out, knocked Roxton unconscious and dragged us to... well, wherever we are at the moment."

There was a short pause before Crichton replied. "Well, Miss Indiana Jones, people are rarely captured without a reason, and usually the reason is you did something to piss off the locals. Or you have something they want." The last sentence almost came out as an afterthought.

"Well, whatever the reason, we'd appreciate if you could come and get us out."

"Don't worry, lady, the cavalry will be there shortly. We'll get ya out in no time." Again a short pause followed. "Where's Pip?"

"Still at the marketplace, probably. We sort of left to explore on our own."

Roxton and Marguerite heard Aeryn's muttering. "Frelling human habit!" It was followed by Crichton's request to his wife. "Aer, honey, could you go down there, get Pip and spring these two free?"

Finally Crichton addressed the two of them. "Alright, Aeryn and Pip will come rescue you. We've used your comms to locate you, so we should be there in less than a quarter-arn. That's about fifteen minutes. Just hang in there."

The communication device deactivated and Roxton looked back up at Marguerite. "Crichton did have a point. There must be a reason we were captured."

Marguerite shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

* * *

"Chiana?"

The Nebari absentmindedly palmed her comms. "Yeah, whadda ya want, Aer?"

"I'm coming up on the space port now. Could you come there?"

"Why?"

Aeryn's sigh came over the comms. "To find out how to get these frelling humans out of prison."

Chiana whipped her head around to locate her companions, not seeing them at all. "Frell! I didn't even know they were gone!" She turned around and walked in the direction of the spaceport. "What the frell happened?"

"We're not sure. They left to explore on their own and they were captured. Neither of the two knows why."

"Well, there's gotta be a reason. Maybe... maybe it's because they look Sebacean?" She paused as she moved in between two streams of pedestrians. "Nah, there are enough Sebaceans here."

"We will find out when we go to where they are. I'm landing now."

"I'll be there in less than a hundred microts."

* * *

"I have not stolen anything!"

"I'm sorry, Marguerite, but in the past your... love for precious items has gotten us in trouble before."

"I know. But I didn't steal anything this time. There must be something else."

"Yeah, but what could it be? We were just walking and looking around. We haven't spoken to anyone, nor touched anything."

* * *

Veronica and Ned ran onto Command. Veronica looked around at the others before turning to John. "What happened?"

John shrugged. "Your friends have managed to get captured for no reason, and they've done so way sooner than I ever have."

"Captured? By whom?"

John turned to Challenger. "We're not sure. Most likely some law enforcement body, but one thing I've learned around here, is that you can never be sure of that." He turned to address the entire group again. "Anyway, the missus has gone down to see if she and Pip can straighten this all out and spring your buddies free."

"Wait, Gray wasn't captured?"

John turned to Finn. "Nope, because apparently your friends got bored and decided to stroll around by themselves."

"And she didn't notice them missing?"

John's expression grew more worried. "That bothers me, too."

* * *

Aeryn waited impatiently for Chiana to show up. The hundred microts Chiana said it would take to get to her had passed. Twice. Aeryn sighed out of frustration. "What's taking her so long?" Another hundred microts passed and still no sign of the Nebari. Aeryn palmed her comms. "Chiana! Get the frell over here, now!" There came no response. "Chiana?" Still nothing. "Pilot, can you locate Chiana? She doesn't respond to her comms."

"Certainly, Officer Sun."

Aeryn began walking in the direction of the spaceport offices, her impatience and worry for Chiana, growing by the microt.

"Her comms signal is coming from less than a hundred motras away."

"Which direction, Pilot?"

"At your Hammond side."

Aeryn turned in the direction. "Thank you, Pilot." She started to jog to where Chiana's comms signal was coming from. Arriving at the spot she didn't see any sign of her. She searched the area thoroughly and finally came upon the abandoned comms. "Frell," she muttered as she picked it up and activated her own comms. "John, I've found Chiana's comms badge, but she's not here. I think we may have a problem."

"Just our usual luck, I s'pose."

Aeryn nodded and gave a small smile. She was about to answer when she heard something behind her. She drew her pistol mid-turn and fired as she saw a weapon leveled at her. After that there was only blackness.

* * *

"Aer? You there?" Crichton began pacing Command. "Aeryn! Is everything alright down there?" When still no reply came, John stopped pacing. "Fuck!" He turned to the others and noticed their worried looks. "Seems like your friends just got caught in the crossfire between whoever's down there and yours truly."

He started pacing again and wondered how this mess could be resolved. He couldn't really go down there, could he? Leaving little D without both parents wasn't an option. So the others would need to go down. But none of them knew how to fly the pods. "Pilot, can Moya pilot a transport pod?"

"Yes, Commander, but not all the way to the planet's surface; its atmosphere filters out a Leviathan's natural communication channels."

"Damn! Sorry, Pilot, wasn't meant for you or Moya."

"Moya and I understand, Commander. Moya does have a suggestion."

"Yeah? What's that, Pilot?"

"You could fly the others to the surface and return immediately. That way, your offspring won't be left alone for much longer than a few hundred microts. The DRDs will watch over him during that period, of course."

"I dunno, Pilot. I'm not sure if I should leave these guys and gals alone on an unknown planet."

"We can take care of ourselves, Crichton." Ned interrupted. "We've been doing that for three years in a hostile environment and we're still alive."

John sighed. "Very well. We'll leave in five minutes. Pilot, please prepare a transport pod."

"Already done, Commander. Transport pod in bay two is ready."

"Alright, people. Let's go."

* * *

"I get the feeling it's not about us. Or not just about us." Roxton nodded his head in the direction of the only door.

Marguerite turned around to look at what John saw. Near the door, a struggling Chiana was being chained up. Eventually their captors succeeded in restraining her and one of them pushed a button on a device at his wrist. Immediately Chiana's verbal protests could be heard while she was being pushed towards them.

It took them almost two minutes to secure the still-struggling girl. The captors seemed totally unfazed by the continuous string of curses being thrown their way. Finally their captors left again, without having uttered so much as a syllable. The sound of their departing steps was cut off once again at the push of a button. Marguerite assumed some invisible wall was between them and the door.

Marguerite turned to see Chiana watching their captors leave. She turned to them with a graceful, birdlike motion and smirked. "Welcome to the Uncharted Territories."

* * *

"Okay, party-people, everyone got their stuff and ready to leave?" John looked at the assembled group and began having doubts again about leaving them on a planet that obviously harbored some as-yet-unknown enemy. He was reassured by the group, Challenger especially.

"We have all the weapons we could possibly need. Both our own earth rifles and weapons, as well as these pulse pistols. As long as our friends are in the same location, we should be able to get there and, as you say, spring them. We've done things like that before."

John nodded and turned in his seat. "Alright, ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. Please fasten your seatbelts and put your seats in the upright position. Do not smoke until the 'no smoking' sign is off. We hope you'll have a pleasant flight." He piloted the pod towards the planet, trying not to worry about the many ways Aeryn might try to kill him if she found out he left little D alone aboard Moya.

* * *

"Frell me! They got Aeryn!" Chiana had been keeping an eye on the door the whole time the two humans told her what happened to them after they left her, for which they apologized. Nothing to give any indication why they were captured, though she agreed with Roxton's assumption it probably wasn't about the humans.

Aeryn had to go through the same process of being chained up, brought into the other section of the room and being secured to the wall. Chiana thought their captors didn't know by half how fortunate they were that Aeryn was unconscious at the moment. If they thought that she, Chiana, had been difficult to secure, Aeryn would've given the word difficulty a whole new meaning.

Like before, the captors walked out of the room without making any sound, except for their footsteps on the hard metallic floor.

Chiana turned back to Aeryn, nudging her. "Aeryn?" She gave up after a several more unsuccessful attempts to rouse the Sebacean.

"It took over fifteen minutes, uhm, a quarter-arn, before Roxton came to."

Chiana turned to Marguerite and acknowledged her comment. "Yeah, we'll just hafta wait."

* * *

"Alright, people, we've landed. Get your gear and head for the exit. I wanna go back to my kid as soon as..." John turned his seat back to the front, a frown forming on his face as he looked at the navigation console. "Damn it!" He started pushing some buttons but soon it became clear the transport pod had been deactivated. From the outside.

He sighed and turned back to the others. "Looks like I'll be joining you, after all." He palmed his comms. "Pilot, the transport pod's been deactivated by someone on the outside. I can't get back. Keep an eye on little D and get the frell out if someone comes towards you guys, okay?"

"Certainly, Commander."

John took out Winona and checked the chakkan oil cartridge. Luckily, it had a nearly-complete charge. He slammed the cartridge back in place and holstered the pistol. "Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

* * *

"Just frelling wonderful." Aeryn had assessed their current situation and had quickly come to the realization they were properly secured. She turned to Chiana. "Chi, did you recognize the species?"

Chiana shook her head. "No. They kinda looked like Scarrans, but they're bigger."

"They looked like a hybrid between Raptors and T-Rexes, if you ask me."

Aeryn and Chiana looked at Marguerite for clarification.

"Two different species of dinosaurs." Marguerite paused and frowned. "I remember Crichton saying we killed a Scarran forefather after we killed a Raptor."

Chiana shook her head admiringly. "You really have been living dangerously all this time, haven't ya?"

Marguerite smiled. "It wasn't that dangerous. Most of the time. Besides, Raptors and T-Rexes aren't that smart. Now, ape-men and lizard men, those were far more dangerous, but usually they stayed in their own territory."

Aeryn decided to stop the nonsense. "So, did they say anything? Why we're being held, what they want? Do we know how many guards are placed outside, how many soldiers?"

Roxton raised his eyebrow and looked at Chiana. "Damn, is she always like that?"

Chiana nodded vigorously. "Yeah, especially when she's tied up." She paused, a mischievous smile forming. "Unless she's alone with Crichton."

Aeryn sighed and decided to ignore Chiana's last comment. Would she never live down that incident in the maintenance bay? "Well, excuse me for being practical in a situation like this. Now, does anyone have an answer?"

Chiana turned back, the smile still in place. One look at Aeryn's glare was enough to make the smile disappear again. "No, they haven't said a thing. There were four of them bringing me here, and three for you." Chiana noticed the unbelieving look on Aeryn's face and shrugged. "You were unconscious when they brought you here. I wasn't and was making things difficult for them." She shrugged again. "Anyway, I think the three who came with you were different from the ones who chained me up."

Aeryn sighed again. "Just frelling wonderful."

* * *

"He has arrived."

"Have we disabled his transportation?"

"Yes, he cannot leave. He should be easy to capture."

"Do not underestimate him. By now he and his new companions will be aware of what is going on. They will resist captivity."

* * *

John peered around a corner to ensure the coast was clear and then turned back to his companions. "Keep your eyes and ears open. We wanna get to our friends, but it'd be best if we got there on our own." He moved around the corner to the end of the street, trusting his companions would do the same. He peered around the next corner, straight into a weapon he didn't recognize. He didn't get more time to take a closer inspection.

* * *

"Here they come again." Roxton nodded towards the door.

They all watched three of their captors enter the other half of the room, but nobody came with them. The invisible wall was apparently opened again, as the sound of their footsteps could suddenly be heard.

Aeryn decided they needed some more information. "Who the frell are you and why did you capture us?"

One of the captors, a male, came in her direction. "Ah, the notorious Officer Sun."

"Sun-Crichton and I'm no longer a Peacekeeper."

The captor acknowledged her with a nod. "Very well. So, the rumors are true then. You've taken the alien known as Crichton as your mate. Tell me, is it true you now carry his offspring as well?"

"No, I'm not." Aeryn wasn't compelled to inform him the baby had been born already.

The lead captor now shook his head. "You should not lie to me. I respond badly to people lying to me."

"I'm not lying. Surely you can scan to see if I'm indeed carrying a child."

The lead captor contemplated that for just a microt. "Very well. I'll humor you." He signaled to one of his cohorts.

She came forward with a device in her hand and began scanning the area around Aeryn's abdomen. She turned to the male. "She's telling the truth. She's not carrying any offspring. The scanner shows she hasn't in at least the past three monens."

'_Hah, they don't know about geometric pregnancies__ either._' Aeryn looked at the male. "See, no lying."

The male captor bowed lightly. "My apologies. Intel told us you were carrying offspring, and that was less than a monen ago. Obviously, our intel was wrong." He turned away from her and started pacing in front of the group. "It seems that despite our careful planning, your mate was still able to elude captivity." He turned to the two Humans. "Though he will undoubtedly admit he wouldn't have without the help of your friends."

'_John, if we survive this, I'm going to __frelling __kill you for leaving our son alone. __Slowly and p__ainfully._' Aeryn was careful to not show her anger towards John to her captor. It would only lead to more questions. She plastered a smile on her face instead, hoping it would either reach her eyes or their captors wouldn't notice its falsity.

The male seemed oblivious and just continued. "We've been trying to locate him for nearly half an arn, but we still can't find him or your friends. But it doesn't matter. Perhaps we won't even need him. While you were here, we checked your DNA." He pointed in the direction of the two Humans. "Much to our surprise, you are of the same species as Crichton. We were assuming he was the only one of his species in this region, but now, it seems, we have a choice." He turned to Marguerite. "I've always preferred working with females."

"You stay the hell away from her!" Roxton struggled in his chains, attempting to keep this alien away from his love. He got struck in the face, hard.

"John!"

The lead captor looked curiously from Roxton to Marguerite. "Ah, you're mates. This can be helpful." He turned to Roxton. "Don't worry. I'll treat your mate like I do all females. You'll be able to view my administrations through the transparent partition."

At the same time a soft thud could be heard from the direction of the partition.

* * *

**Earlier**** outside the building**

"Thanks, guys."

Veronica shook her head. "I can't believe you survived this long if you can't even notice shadows on the ground."

John smirked. "You met Aeryn, right?"

Veronica sighed. "Great. From now on, we'll take lead. We seem to be much better prepared for this."

John shrugged. "Be my guest."

Challenger tapped him on the shoulder. "What did you do on the occasions your wife couldn't be there?"

"Depended on big D to cover my ass."

"I'll gladly take that duty," Finn responded, her eyes having again strayed to that area.

John turned to her, raising an eyebrow. "You met Aeryn, right?"

"Guys, maybe we could just find the others, now?" Ned interrupted. "Veronica's already waiting for us at the other end of this alley." Without waiting for a reply, he walked towards her.

The others followed him, quietly.

Veronica motioned ahead of them. "That's the building where our friends are being held." She motioned to the left of the building. "There's a small alley over there. We could either go there and see if there's a way in or go to the other side and use the main entrance."

John looked at the alley and then at the front entrance. "In my experience, main entrances are usually less well-defended than back entrances. For some reason, bad guys never expect anyone to be foolish enough come in through the front."

Veronica nodded. "I agree. There's a good chance that if there's an entrance in the alley, it's well-guarded. Still, there'll be guards in the front, as well."

Carefully the group made their way to the front entrance. They didn't see anyone, nor was there any indication of surveillance equipment around to protect the building.

Veronica tried the door but it didn't budge. Remembering Crichton's 'Opening doors in the UTs 101', as he had called it, she checked to see if she wasn't overlooking some mechanism. Ascertaining there indeed wasn't one, she turned back. "It's locked."

John unholstered Winona. "No problem, I've got the keys." He walked to the door and fired at the lock. He reholstered Winona and opened the door. He gestured to Veronica. "Ladies first."

Veronica shook her head. "What's wrong with you? Do you want them to know we're coming? They could have heard you shoot the lock!"

John shrugged. "You need to be near a pulse pistol to hear it go off. The sound of the actual blast probably didn't reach far beyond the door. Since no one's even in the main hall, it's unlikely they heard it. And no, I don't want people to notice us. I figured hanging around here is more likely to get us noticed than me shooting out the damn lock. Now, get in before people _do_ notice us."

Veronica made a frustrated sound before briskly walking into the building. The others followed her, John last.

The explorers looked around the hall, wide-eyed and clearly uncertain on how to proceed. John recognized it for what it was. Reality came crashing in at the sight of the wide variety of alien technology and items. That combined with the fact they probably hadn't bothered to look at a detailed map of the building's innards had them at a complete loss.

He gestured in the direction they needed to go. "This way. We'll take a left at the first intersection, go down the stairs, head to the right, go down two flights on those stairs, go straight ahead and we should be looking at the door where our friends are being held."

The others looked at him in surprise.

"Don't sweat it. I've learned the hard way to prepare for these situations. I'm also no longer taken by surprise by my surroundings. Well, not often anyway." He looked at Veronica. "Still want to take point?"

Veronica shook her head. "No, you know the way. I'll be right behind you, though."

John nodded and headed in the direction he had indicated. He kept close to the walls and listened carefully. He was certain the opposition should show themselves soon. They may not have heard them breaking in, but they sure as hell would've picked them up on the surveillance camera he spotted in the corridor they'd just entered.

When he arrived at the intersection, he crouched down and waited until the others had stopped moving as well. He once again listened carefully for any noise. He thought he heard some movement, but wasn't sure if it came from the left or right side of the intersection. He turned to Veronica and whispered, "Did you hear that?"

Veronica nodded. "Yeah. I think they are at both sides."

John acknowledged her assessment. "You want left or right?"

Veronica grabbed both her knifes. "Let me surprise both sides first. You can take the left side, Finn will take right." She motioned to Finn who nodded her agreement.

John watched as both girls readied themselves, obviously enjoying the prospect of action. He looked behind him at the two males who were keeping an eye out for their backs. He turned back to the women and nodded to signal he was ready.

Veronica rolled into the intersection, throwing a knife in both directions mid-roll. At the same time, John and Finn moved around the corners, John firing Winona, Finn her small crossbow. Veronica rolled on to her feet and fired her pulse pistol in the direction Finn had fired. This gave Finn time to switch from her crossbow to a pulse pistol. It didn't take them long to eliminate the enemies.

The three of them looked around for a moment to make sure they'd gotten everyone, before signaling the two men they were ready to move again. Veronica went to gather her knifes back, before following closely behind John towards the stairs. They managed to get to the level the others were held without incident.

The level itself seemed eerily quiet as well. John frowned when he noticed no more opposition at the other side of the door separating the corridor from the stairs and turned to Veronica. "We didn't kill _that_ many, did we?"

Veronica shrugged. "I think there were about ten of them."

John nodded. "Uh-huh, but we haven't seen anyone since. I seriously doubt those were the only baddies left in the building."

Veronica shrugged again. "As long as they're not here, it's fine by me."

"Damn."

John and Veronica turned around to see the reason for Challenger's curse.

Challenger was examining his clothes but noticed the looks he got from Crichton and Veronica as he looked up. "I've torn my pants in four places since we set foot on this planet."

John nodded, a grin forming. "Yeah, we need to get you guys to Bikers-R-Us as soon as possible. Leather is the fabric of choice around here; doesn't tear so easy." He looked at Veronica and Finn. "And you might wanna look in something to cover more of yourself. You don't wanna catch a cold."

"I can handle the temperature just fine," Veronica and Finn retorted in unison.

John arced an eyebrow. "Really? You're used to tropical temperatures, end up on a ship that's probably not even half the temperature you're used to, but you can handle it? Right."

Veronica looked down momentarily before looking back up at him. "Alright, I admit it's a bit colder than I'd like."

John nodded. "You could've told me, though. We probably have some old Peacekeeper stuff in storage somewhere."

"Perhaps we should rescue our friends first, before we start talking fashion?"

John looked at Ned and nodded. "You're right. Free friends first, go on shopping spree later." He opened the door further and moved through the corridor towards the door separating them from the others.

He waited until the others had gathered and whispered to them, "Let's assume there are guards in there, even though your friends didn't mention it when they first contacted us. We'll have to deal with them quickly so they won't turn on our friends."

The others nodded in agreement and John moved to the door and opened it. It took him less than a microt to see four guards and their friends. The guards had their backs towards them, and didn't seem to have heard the door open. John moved towards the leftmost guard at a run.

"Crichton, wait!"

John heard Veronica's warning, but it was too late. He ran straight into the transparent partition and it knocked him out cold.

* * *

Veronica shook her head. "Unbelievable. First he walks into an armed alien because he fails to notice the obvious shadow on the floor, then he runs into an invisible wall because he fails to notice he can't hear the obvious shouting and movement."

Aeryn nodded. "Believe it. He's done worse. Even after all the cycles he spent here, he's still not much of a warrior."

Veronica looked at Aeryn. "Yeah, but the thing is, when we got in we had no idea where to go, but he memorized the layout and knew the shortest route to you guys."

Aeryn grinned. "And you have no idea how often he got into trouble because he hadn't prepared like I and others had repeatedly told him to." She grew serious again. "So, what is the situation?"

Veronica also went serious. "We killed about ten in the first corridor and we haven't seen anyone else up to the moment we entered through that door."

Aeryn frowned. "Only ten and the three in here? Odd."

Veronica nodded. "Yeah, Crichton found that strange, too." She looked through the invisible wall again and jerked her head in that direction. "What are they going to do with him? They seem to be talking with him, not hurting him in any way."

Aeryn shrugged the best she could. "I have no idea, though chances are they want wormhole tech from him, or they want him to use it to their advantage. Either way, they may not harm right away, but they might start soon."

Marguerite shook her head. "That doesn't make sense." She looked at Aeryn. "About them being interested in wormholes. They were willing to settle for me or Roxton."

"Perhaps they believe that all Humans have knowledge of wormholes. Not many know that Crichton had been given the knowledge after he got here."

* * *

The group was very surprised when one of their captors, not the leader, came back, released them and gestured them to follow him to the area where the other two and Crichton were.

Crichton was in deep conversation with the female captor that had scanned Aeryn. He looked around her to the others. "Hey, guys." He focused on the explorers. "Don't you agree these people look like dinosaurs?"

Surprised and taken aback, Challenger nodded slowly. "Yes, I'd say a cross between Raptors and T-Rexes. Why?"

Crichton got up from the chair he had been sitting in. "Apparently, these people have been in this part of the universe for millennia, not knowing where they came from. The interesting part is that their DNA and ours have something in common."

The female nodded. "Yes. As some of you may be aware, in each part of the universe life started from a common gene pool, each pool having unique DNA strands. Much to our surprise, our DNA doesn't match with the strands of most of the species found in this part."

"So, you probably didn't originate from this part?" Challenger asked, his interest growing by the second.

The female, apparently a medically-trained person among her people, nodded again. "Exactly. We've been trying to determine which part we did originate from, but until we heard about Crichton, we never had any clue in which direction we should look."

"I knew it! It's about wormholes again!" Aeryn snapped.

Crichton went to her. "No, honey, it isn't. Let her finish, please."

Aeryn looked at him and nodded reluctantly. "Fine."

The female continued. "The medical data we were able to gather about him, showed his DNA have identical strands to ours. That shows that whichever part of the universe he came from, is also our birthplace."

"You're from Earth?"

The female turned to Challenger. "Possibly, or at least a planet within a two light-cycle radius from your home world. We want to go that part of the universe, find our real origins."

Crichton nodded. "Yeah, but I can't really help you, because I don't know which way to go."

The male leader sighed. "The other said the same."

Aeryn turned to the male. "Other? What other?"

The female glared at him, clearly unhappy about what he had said, before turning to Aeryn. "We've talked with someone else who showed indications of coming from the same part. But she, too, didn't know were she came from or how to get there."

Crichton frowned. "There's another species around here with origins in our part of the universe?"

The female nodded. "Yes, but that is all I can tell you."

The male leader gestured towards the door. "You are free to go. We've reactivated your transport pod's power supply."

The group walked to the door, but Crichton turned around. "What are you guys gonna do now?"

The male shrugged and sighed. "There's nothing we can do about our quest at this point. Without any new information, we will never learn where we were created. We'll return to the planet we've been calling home for well over fifty thousand cycles and continue to scan for new leads. Perhaps one day we'll find our original birthplace."

Crichton nodded. "Good luck. I hope you'll find it at one point." He turned back to the door. "Come on, guys. We need to buy some decent threads."

Marguerite looked down at herself. "What's wrong with the clothing I wear?" She looked back up and noticed Crichton and the others had already walked out of the room. "Crichton?! What's wrong with my clothes?" She walked after them. "Let me tell you these were decent when we went on our expedition. Crichton?" The edge of her long skirt caught on one of the sharp corners of the doorpost, creating a tear as she walked on.

* * *

**A/N:** That's all I have completed so far. Part 4 is in the making, but being rewritten at the moment (in between writing on my next 'Duped'-verse story). I'm curious if anyone here notices the link to another story I wrote. No one on the TF boards noticed it, and even my trusty beta didn't notice it (at least she didn't tell me she noticed). 


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